Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.” (NIV Mark 2:27-28)

There seems to be a connection with the Sabbath being made for 'any man' and from this proposition, 'the Son of Man' , that is the second Adam, has all the more right to change the Sabbath, or at least at a minimum use it as it was intended to the first Adam, if he so chooses.

I sense an argument here but can't immediately find the words for it. Has anyone heard of a good explanation? I looked up a couple commentaries but nothing seemed to be that good at all.

@MonikaMichael - I think there is a 'therefore' argument used here. The Sabbath was made for any man, therefore, the Son of Man is Lord over the Sabbath. Not any man is Lord over the Sabbath, only the Son of Man. If you read some commentaries you will see the question and difficulty in the meaning is tackled but not answered well, at least by the ones I checked online.
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MikeAug 2 '12 at 6:26

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Maybe I'm a dorkhead but I still don't get it. Could you summarize your claims in one succinct statement? Do you mean to ask - Why Jesus has the right to overrule sabbath? Or - Do we have that same right?
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Monika MichaelAug 2 '12 at 6:57

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@MonikaMichael - How about this version: The purpose of the Sabbath does not seem related to Christ's Lordship over it, but this verse makes a direct connection. What is the connection that makes Christ Lord over the Sabbath? (I am assuming we are not Lords over the Sabbath but only Christ is)
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MikeAug 2 '12 at 7:37

I'm not one to complain, but why are there so many downvotes for all these answers. Is someone getting offended by the answers or they are off-topic or not correct?
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Hamman SamuelMar 1 at 13:42

9 Answers
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I think you are getting hung up on Son of Man being a divine title. We take it as that, but it doesn't mean that fundamentally. It means something along the lines of the Ideal Man, the Best Man, the Representitive Man. It doesn't imply divinity.

Jesus' point then is that the Sabbath was created for the good of people. That's how the CEV translates it. JB Phillips translates it "for the sake of man". In other words the purpose of Man is not to keep the Sabbath - the purpose of the Sabbath is to keep Man operating as (s)he should.

Because of this, Jesus is saying, if the rules of the Sabbath are actually getting in the way of people doing the right thing, then they should be changed and Man has the power to do that. It should of course be noted that the precise details of what was permitted on the Sabbath were not direct commands of God; the violation was only of the current interpretation of what constituted Sabbath-breaking.

Your right I am hung up on the title and the meaning of Lord. I did come across this view before posting the question but I think your argument it better than the version I had read. Note: I posted my own version at the same time of your post. It resolves what I am hung up on, but that seems to be my own issue. Cheers.
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MikeAug 2 '12 at 16:54

"the precise details of what was permitted on the Sabbath were not direct commands of God" actually they were written directly with His own finger see Exodus 20:8-11. "if the rules of the Sabbath are actually getting in the way of people doing the right thing, then they should be changed and Man has the power to do that". Jesus said it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath, thus the commandment of the Sabbath never gets in the way of doing good, it was the man made laws of the Pharisees that were getting in the way, they thought you couldn't even heal or help others on the Sabbath.
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HelloWorldOct 17 '13 at 15:12

I think the answer to Jesus statement "I am Lord over the Sabbath" is best answered by understanding who Jesus is in relation to God. In John 1 it says "In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God" and in verse 14 it goes on to say "and the word became flesh and dwelt among us." By this understanding, we see that God created all things through the "word", who is Jesus. This means that Jesus is Lord over the Sabbath because through Him the Sabbath was instituted at creation.

Here Jesus is saying that he has authority over the sabbath. He has the authority because he created the day. We are to keep the sabbath faithfully each week. That does nor mean Sunday. Sunday is not the sabbath. Saturday is the true sabbath. What Jesus was telling the pharisees had turned the sabbath into a day of burden and not rest. He did not abolish it but instead he removing all the man made restrictions that had been made.

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James TDec 12 '13 at 14:45

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I wonder if there are any external references you could add to this answer, to support the statements you make. For example, you could mention specific groups or people who agree with this interpretation, and link to or quote from their writings.
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James TDec 12 '13 at 14:46

Then he said to them, “Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.” (NIV Mark 2:27-28)

Upon more thinking and searching more commentaries, I think the amplified version of this verse, detailing the logic, could read as follows:

God made Adam before he made the Sabbath, to give his body rest and to provide other benefits to man. He made the Sabbath for him to enjoy. The Sabbath was not meant to be a burden, but a rest. In this sense the Sabbath was a work 'in service of man' and so men were above the Sabbath in so much as it was made for them. In the same way, the Son of Man, that is the New Adam, or federal head of humanity, is over the Sabbath, but much more so. As God, He could not fully be made to be 'under Law' but is Lord over the Sabbath and all Laws of God. As a man, He was born under Law but as God he could not be brought fully under His own Law. Furthermore, as Lord of the Sabbath not only could Jesus properly teach the meaning of the Sabbath to the Pharisees that misunderstood it, but He would soon act as 'Lord over it' by dying on the Sabbath and rising to make a New Covenant where the Father would be pleased with His work of salvation and would rest and delight in this work as a new never ending Sabbath, that could give eternal rest four the soul by faith.

In other words, the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath (in the first creation). Therefore, in the same way and even more so, the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath (as is shown by his application of its true meaning and abolition of the Old Sabbath in the new eternal Sabbath he will soon create).”

Christ did not die on the weekly Sabbath but he died on an high holy day Sabbath kept by the Jews known as Passover he died in the midst or middle of the week a Wednesday. He was in the grave 72 hours and rose at twilight/sundown Saturday evening which is the beginning of a new day. He had already risen and was gone long before Mary and Mary Magdalene came to his tomb.

He kept the Sabbath Holy because he was the law and he never changed the day at all. He did not eliminate ONE JOT or TITTLE of his 10 commandments he just summarized them into two great commandments. The first four including the Sabbath commandment fall under Love for God, the next six fall under Love for neighbor.

The first day of the week fallacy is implied by people not understanding what is going on. The disciples were not worshiping on Sunday the first day of the week when he appeared to them they were hiding for fear of their lives. In Acts Paul tells people to bring things on the first day of the week a gleaning to help another congregation this was a work day not a Sabbath meeting. Constantine a worshiper of the sun God ordered the new christian converts to keep Sunday it was he and the Roman empire and Catholic church that changed the day NOT Christ or God. Christ never sinned and he never ever changed the laws in fact he said he came to Magnify make them greater not change them. He also came to reveal the FATHER someone greater than himself. He would never change something his Father and him agreed on as a Sabbath. That would be usurping his father's ultimate authority just as Satan did. The Feast of Tabernacles depicts the Millennium Sabbath Rest to come when Christ as King of King and Lord of Lord's comes and subdues ALL NATIONS and CONQUERS all Nations and will rule 1000 years ( One day to the God family) over all humanity NOT IN heaven but on earth and at the end he turns the Kingdom over to God the father who plans to dwell with Mankind perpetually. There is NO rapture and we are not going to go live in heaven. We only go to heaven IF we die and our spirit goes to God our dead body is laid to sleep until resurrection. When God the father comes a NEW day begins and it is going to be a work day with new covenants established again.

Hi, and welcome to Christianity SE! I think you have a great answer here in the second paragraph, but the rest of it sort of rambles (focused answers are good) and is only somewhat tangential to the question. Could you perhaps expand that paragraph a bit and consider removing the rest (though there are questions where those portions would fit nicely)?
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Ryan FrameJul 23 '13 at 14:46

I had been looking for a proper interpretation to this climb, and now I understood something like this, He is the prince of peace in essence rest, So what could be the possibility which I agree with is He is the Lord of the true Sabbath in other words He is the Lord of rest. It was ordained for the sake of man to have rest and relish with the Lord by what he has done on the six days of work, in fact, it was given to them as a grace, but the Sabbatarian tradition blinded their minds, and they forbidden several things with their carnal mind with these followings things- Sowing, plowing, reaping, binding sheaves, threshing, winnowing, sifting, grinding, kneading, baking, washing wool, beating wool, dying wool, spinning wool, putting on a weaver's beam, making threads, weaving threads, separating threads, making a knot, untying a knot, sewing two stitches...on and on and on. You talk about heavy laden...the system was oppressive and it was all unscriptural and horribly ungodly and brutally unkind.

Bart Ehrman gave the following explanation: "[If] you translate from Aramaic however, Aramaic used the same word for man and son of man, 'barnash' so it really means, Sabbath was made for humans, not the other way around". This agrees in principle with the currently accepted answer by @DJClayworth. (Source: Rational Responders)

I think it is very important to put the seventh day Sabbath in its proper perspective. Simply put, it is a commandment of God. As Christians, abiding under God's new covenant we are instructed to follow His commandments out of love for Him. 1 John 5:3 "For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome." Also, 1 John 2:3-4 "3 And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. 4 He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him." Many try to say that these commandments are of the old covenant and some of them are not applicable to the new covenant. I disagree. I believe that, as Christ put it, "not the smallest letter shall depart from the Law". There are definite changes in how God's Law is applied under the new covenant, however, it is all still relevant to believers today. The change in the Law is that Christ is a high priest in the order of Melchizedek. Christ's priesthood is in the Heavenly realm and overshadows Aaron's priesthood on earth. Under the New Covenant Christ's sacrifice ended the requirement for animal sacrifice's once and for all. This is the change in the Law but even this change did not put an end to the Levitical Priesthood. The author of Hebrews comments that Christ cannot be a priest on earth because of Aaron's priesthood. If the priesthood has ended then this would not be so. As New Covenant believers in Christ we enter into the Covenant by faith in Christ's atoning sacrifice on the cross. We are saved by Grace through Faith. Once, we enter into the New Covenant by faith we walk out our faith and know God by keeping his commandments. Keeping God's commandments is the fruit of our faith, not the root of our faith.

Welcome to Christianity.SE! Please take a moment to view our tour page and How do I write a good answer?. This site is about providing answers based on established doctrine, not necessarily our own personal views. Can you please specify what doctrine supports your answer and provide some documentation supporting the interpretation?
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crownjewel82Oct 17 '13 at 15:22

Established doctrine? Are you speaking of doctrine as established by men? Or, the written word of God. If by men, then I will not comment further after this post. If by God, then I have already sited doctrine in my comments. John 1, 1 John 2, and Hebrews 8. I don't follow man's doctrine nor do I quote it.
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TomOct 17 '13 at 17:27

Hi Tom. The reference to "established doctrine" is just because it will be helpful to readers to understand who else shares this belief - we're not asking for you to make your beliefs dependent on some other tradition, but just to explain (possibly very briefly!) which people in the world agree or disagree with you.
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James TOct 17 '13 at 18:09

First of all who is the son of man . The general understanding is that Christ being the son of man has been given the power to be lord of the Sabbath.
Lets dissect it a little bit.
First of all who is the son of man?
The answer is, that we are all the son of man unless someone has another explanation of where we came from
So when Christ was quoting that passage he was quoting that we as human beings are Lord of the Sabbath because we are al sons of man.
So If we are all lords of the Sabbath, We are therefore in Charge of it, not slave of it
as the Israelites were.